NEXGEN 12g Weighted Composite Poker Chip Review

[Matthew]

Manufacturer: Called NEXGEN – (Unknown Manufacturer)
Retailer(s): Widely available on-line… http://www.5stardeal.com http://www.acepokerchipcompany.com http://www.discountcasinogear.com http://newenglandpokertour.com/store http://www.wedoitallvegas.com
Average Price: $0.18 - $0.26 each for plain chips. My cost with custom labels was just under $0.32 each.
Material: Injected molded plastic chip with metal insert
Member Review by: Matthew

These chips are 40mm diameter, weigh 12 grams and have a recessed 1” center perfect for custom labels. There are 3 available styles: 10-8000 Series Las Vegas Edge Spots with 7 colors, 10-8002 Series Las Vegas multi-color edge spots with 8 colors and 10-8100 Series River Poker Tour with 7 colors

Price

Price is on the cheaper side of all the chips out there but these are significantly better in looks, sound and feel than the “dice” chips for approximately double the price ($0.11 - $0.14 for “dice” up to $0.18 - $0.26 each for NEXGEN), but still 20-25% of the final cost of top of the line customs. A great value for a customizable chip with out pushing $1.00+ each for ASM, Paulsons or Chipcos.

Feel

Since the chips are plastic they feel like plastic but have a silkier / softer sensation than the very hard ABS plastic “dice” chips. These chips shuffle easily, although I can personally only shuffle two stacks of three or four chips together.

Stacking

Stacks of 20-25 chips are no problem and they will slide across the table without falling if some care is taken. However, 30-40 chips would be pushing their stability threshold. Again, better than stacking “dice” chips where breathing on them will cause them to crash but unable to be stacked like Paulsons from the floor to the table height. The outside mold area is crosshatched which adds some friction to help with stability in stacking. Since the inlay or label area is recessed the application of the labels has no affect on racking or stacking the chips.

Sound

These chips do have a metallic ring when tossed on a hard surface but are not as loud and do not resonate like the “dice” chips. When riffling the chips in a stack, the sound is higher pitched, louder and harder than a modern clay chip, but not nearly as metallic as the “dice”

Looks

Up close it is painfully obvious these chips are plastic, but from across the table they look like a more expensive chip with the edge spots. The 10-8000 and 10-8001 series have the same mold reading “LAS VEGAS * NEVADA USA” around the chip. The differences are the edge spots and the diamond edge marking found on the 10-8000 series. The 10-8100 read “RIVER POKER TOUR” twice around the chip separated by a stylized cowboy hat. The mold writing and edge spot area is crosshatched while the recessed center (inlay area) is smooth. Base colors of white, red, blue, green, black, purple and yellow are there for all 3 styles. An 8th color, orange, is available in the 10-8002 series. The 3 edge spots of the 7 different 10-8000 series and red, white and blue chips of the 10-8100 series are all ½” and the same color. The green, black, purple and yellow chips of the 10-8100 series have 4 dual colored ½” edge spots. To add more variety, the white, blue, red and green chips of the 10-8002 series have 4 edge spots of 2 alternating colors each ½” in size. While the black, purple, yellow and orange chips have 3 edge spots of 3 different colors ½” in size. The colors are uniform on all the chips I have. There is a mold split line around the outside circumference of the chip but is only visible on a close examination. With the 10-8000 and 10-8002 sharing the mold design, there is no issue combining the 2 series with the color combinations of choice. Even with “River Poker Tour” on the 10-8100 being the only difference other than color to the other 2 series, mixing and matching is up to the individual. On my chips, some of the edge spots are not evenly spaced. It didn’t seem to be problem with the 10-8000 series (I have 100 yellow and 100 red), the 3 edge spots on all the chips are spaced 120 degrees apart. However, with the 10-8002 series (I have 200 blue and 20 white, 10-15% of the chips did not have the edge spots evenly spaced. Instead of 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock or 90 degrees apart, one would be off by 45 degrees and would not be exactly opposite its mating color, see picture. It’s not really a problem but just not perfect. Additionally, with the 10-8002 white chip, the edge spots are red and teal not red and green as in the picture.

Security/Originality

Due to the wide availability of these chips there is NO security without labels. With custom 1” circular labels there is no fear of extra chips of the top denominations at the end of the night. A plain label customized with a Sharpie would work but a personalized design can be as complicated and unique as you can make it - as long as it’s 1” and circular. There are several pros out there doing label design with some very good artwork (many on e-bay), but it can be done yourself with an art program like Photoshop and a laser printer.

Durability

I let my 7 year old son, 4.5 year old daughter and almost 2 year old son play with the chips for a hour or so after the labels were applied and saw no “wear and tear”. They had stacking contests and proceeded to wreck each other’s creations. They repeatedly went table to hardwood floor with no damage to the chip (as expected) or to the label. The plastic is softer than an ABS chip and can be scratched with a fingernail if you want to. My expectation is that the labels will wear but that in normal play the chips will look the same forever.

Reviewers Comments

Everything about these chips is mid-range. They are an upgrade from the “dice” chips but are still a mass produced plastic chip. I would love to have a custom ASM or Chipco set, but am not prepared to shell out that kind of money. I am absolutely thrilled with these chips for the price paid. I have 420 with custom labels and my final cost was 31.7 cents each for chips, racks, labels and black and white printing. They are unique to my home game, plus I gained a certain amount of satisfaction of designing and creating my own label. The added bonus of labels is that they can be changed for new look and with the mass produced chip they can be easily expanded. Please see my other review of the label creation and printing process.

Chip Pictures

1st – My chips with custom labels (photoshop mockup).
2nd – All the colors available in the 10-8000 series, 10-8002 series and 10-8100 series (composed in Photoshop with images from vendor sites).
3rd – My chips and cards.
4th - My chips in the racks.
5th - Uneven spacing on the edge spots.

[links_slayer]

NEXGEN 12g Weighted Composite chip
Purchased from www.ultimatepokersupplies.com
$3.49/Pack of 25 (13.96 cents per chip)

Well, my 1000 Las Vegas Nexgens are IMO the best chips I've purchased so far. I graduated from the dice chips about a month ago and I must say it's a huge improvement.

Pros:

• 12g weight. I like the weight quite a bit even though it's heavier than a casino chip.
• They have a textured plastic feel making them much less slippery than dice chips.
• Recessed Center is ideal for customizing your chips!!!!
• I love the edge spots and diamonds on these chips.
• Way cheaper than a set of custom clays
• Can be made incredibly secure by applying your own label.

Cons:

• Still a metal insert
• Sounds like a dice chip when splashed in the pot. Hopefully my labels (when applied) will deaden or soften this sound.
• Can't customize the edge spot colors
• Quite plasticy feeling

[Stapes41]

NEXGEN 12g Weighted Composite chip
Purchased from: www.personalpokerchips.com
Chip version: NEXGEN 8200 Lucky Bee
Price Paid: 17c per chip (about 28c with custom labels, racks, and acrylic carrier)

I've been using my custom Lucky Bees for about two months now and have been quite pleased with the purchase. The key for me was twofold:

1) Working with Jason at www.personalpokerchips.com: great color labels, great "package" deal and choice on chips, racks, and carrier.

2) Sanding the chips with 220 grit sandpaper before applying labels results in a HUGE improvement in feel/look/sound/and stackability.

Pros:

• -Relatively inexpensive upgrade from dice chips
• -Look great with custom labels
• -Sanding allows for higher stacks (50+), less metallic sound, and more claylike feel
• -"Bee" mold is subtle and is the only NEXGEN option without words around the edge

Cons:

• -Still not a true clay chip
• -Cheaper alternatives available
• -Sanding them makes a small injection pimple in one of the edge "bees" more visible
• -Takes some time to sand and apply labels to 1000 chips (~10 hrs.)

[arkshel]

Manufacturer: NEXGEN – (China)
Retailer: www.thecustomchip.com
Price: $0.15
Material: Polypropylene
Member Review by: Richard
Purchase URL: Las Vegas Clay Nexgen

I bought these chips and I couldn't be happier for a number of reasons Ive listed them below.
Pros:

• Authentic looking edge spots (not so uniform but random)
• Sounds great when splashed into a pot
• Great wieght
• Reasonably priced

Cons:

• Made in China